Last Friday"s U.S. District Court decision calling the Recording Industry Association of America"s legal tactics against the law is sure to stoke the fires of the ongoing music wars.
The decision handed down by the court says the RIAA has no right to issue subpoenas to an Internet Service Provider for personal user information related to file swapping. It also lets Verizon off the hook, saying the ISP isn"t responsible for what its users do while using the Internet, or what they do with files taken from the Net.
But the recording industry has already issued more than 2,000 subpoenas, demanding that ISPs give them the names of alleged file swappers. Hundreds of those receiving subpoenas have also been sued. Of those, many have already settled their cases with the RIAA.